You Just Had To Be There
by Kago-San
Summary: For Steven, it's just another year of high school with his friends. That is until his childhood friend Peridot, bumps into him in the hallways. AU Stevidot. Constructive criticism is welcome.
1. Chapter 1

"Bye dad!'

"Goodbye Steven. Have a great first day." Greg Hollered. Yep, it is that time of the year again, the start of a new life of new experiences and adventures . He has no idea how this day would go, but he hoped that he can make a lasting impression and great time in the days to come. A shove from a random person snapped him out of daydreaming and looked at the big building in front of him. Inhaling then exhaling, he starts walking towards the building.

"Well, here goes another year of high school."

O08oo

Steven made way to his locker so he can unload the extra baggage he needed to carry before class, but it didn't really bother him to bring anything to class because it is the first day of school. Usually in the first day of school, people are too busy finding their rooms, teacher establishing rules, and giving us a supply list for the class. So it didn't concern Steven if he needed to bring books or not, giving how he's isn't going to use it yet. With that, he basically put all of his books into the locker and closed it just to see his best friend leaning on the locker waiting to greet him.

"Yo Steven." she said in familiarity.

"Oh, hey Amy... What are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" She held her mask. "This is only the coolest thing ever! Check it, you know how I'm into pro wrestling right?" He nodded. "Well I went to this website where you can get custom masks and they ship it to you for free. For FREE Steven!" Amethyst shaking Steven back and forth getting him a little dizzy. "Do you know what this means?"

"You're going to drop out of school and become a part-time luchador?" Amethyst thinks that he just said that to get her mad, but she's too excited to get mad.

"Nope! It means I got you one too!" She then pulls out a yellow mask with the design of a lion snout and sporting the ears on top ends of the mask. Steven lit up like a Christmas tree when given the mask, looking at It in all angles and feeling it out.

"No, freaking, way! This is awesome! Thanks Amy!" He charged into his best friend grabbing her in a tight hug. Amethyst then shrugged.

"Eh, tis what I do." Amethyst stated. "Say, did you ever get the chance to-" Interrupted by the bell signaling first period, the students haste to their first period class. Steven took this time to pick up his almost empty backpack and tagged along with Amethyst.

"Like I was saying, did you ever get the chance to ask out that girl yet? What's her name. Connie?" She asked. Steven felt his face heat up when the name was mentioned. Trying to play it cool, he crossed his arms and gave his friend a scoff.

"W-What are you talking-" Cut short by Amethyst's laughter, she slung her arm over his shoulder.

"Dude I'm just messing with you. Take your time with it, don't rush." She said in a mellowed out tone. "By the way. What class do you have now?"

"Health."

"Ah well. I got Geography so I go this way. See ya star child!" She hollered running down the hallway. Steven waved back at her just to witness her run into another student, knocking both of them to the floor. Steven stifled a laugh and went about going to his next class, knowing that Amethyst is going to be fine.

He looked intensely at the room numbers hoping that he would eventually find his class without being late. Even though it's the first day, he still believed that he should at least be on time. He walked down the school halls looking left and right looking for the room 221. Soon he realized that when he got to an intersection, it was the first door on his left.

A little nervous, he approached the door and opened it to see his new classmates, being like any kid in the first day, mostly quiet because of the new faces, they were doing a whole lotta nothing to pass the time. Most were on their cell phone, some were checking their backpacks and a few were just blankly staring a the whiteboard. But there were a few talkative people in here too, in turn puts him at ease. He sees his new teacher and approached her with his schedule at hand. The teacher just noticed a student walking towards her and shifted her attention.

"Oh, good morning sweetheart, who might you be?" she asked. Steven handed her his schedule and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uh, hello. I'm Steven Universe." The teacher smiled.

"Well it's nice to meet you Mr. Universe, I'm Ms. Garnet. I'm going to be your Health teacher for the year. It's nice to meet you." Ms. Garnet claimed. She extended out her hand and Steven shook it.

"Nice too meet you too Ms. Garnet."

"Please, call me Ms. G." Steven complied with a smile and a nod, Ms. G then replied with the same reaction.

"Well, you may go sit down wherever you like and relax. Hopefully more kids come in before the late bell rings."

"Okay." And with that, Steven faced with a tough decision, where is he going to sit? He explored his options, concluding that the seating is arranged in a group type of set up. Four to five seats in each group, and there were six arrangements like this and three of them are full. Two of those tables are almost full with only one spot left, on the other hand, the remaining one had a girl sitting alone. She's sporting blue hair to match with her blue graphic tee and black jeans. Steven chose to sit with her out of pity but also curious about having that girl as a friend.

He walked over to the table as casual as possible and sat down having her look at him. Steven put up a hand and gave her a wave.

"Hey." she looked at him a few moments longer and looked away as if she's not in the mood to chat. _Okay then_ Steven thought as he awkwardly tapped his fingers on his desk. It could be that she's new to the school and she's a little shy it seems, because frankly, what she did was not very nice and it made Steven feel like it was his fault for her sour attitude. But then again she could be having a bad morning and don't want any other headaches.

Hard to tell for the disgruntled teen, so he chose to get over it. The late bell rung, indicating the start of the first period. Ms. G rose from her seat and gave a couple of claps to get the student's attention.

"Alright guys, enough chit-chat, class has started." Everyone eventually settled down and Ms. G continued.

"Good morning everyone, I'm your health teacher Ms. Garnet but you can call me Ms. G" there were a few student's greeting Ms. G with reluctance and delay.

"Now I'm going to-" the knock on the door caught her off guard and politely asked Steven to open the for the person waiting outside. Steven complied and open the door to see a girl about the same height as him but she has a puffy ponytail and a red hair band, sporting a maroon t-shirt and dark greyish cargo shorts.

"Thanks." she spoke.

"You're welcome." Steven replied. She walked into Ms. G's view and gave her a smile, which in turn, the girl gingerly waved at her.

"Good Morning Ruby. Paying me a visit?"

"Suuuuure?" Ruby said, unsure how to reply to that question.

"Why did you answer like that?" Ruby then raised her right hand to reveal her schedule.

"You're in here? **Sigh** Okay then. Find yourself a seat." Ruby then proceeded to scope out a good seat from the options she had left. Her eyes landed on the table where Steven and the other girl is sitting. She sat down at the table and greeted both before Ms. G started to talk again.

O08oo

In fourth period, Steven has PE, which he didn't have to do much but sit down on the floor and wait for the teacher to give talk. He was one of the first people to arrive in the gym and saw the same two girls from first period. Although he wanted to talk to both, they were sitting too far apart so he sat in the middle of them waiting for instruction yet again. Seeing how his classmates walk in the gym few by few finding themselves their seats, there was one person who walked in that looked really familiar. Wavy hair, purple tank top that say's 'let's get weird' and jeggings. Getting a closer look, he figured that it's his best friend.

"Amy!" Steven called, waving at her. She whipped her head around to see who was calling her. She saw Steven waving at her.

"Steven!" she darted at him with intent of contact. Realizing this he stood up and opened his arms and braced with a smile on his face. Amethyst came crashing onto him, putting him in a playful headlock while giving him a noogie. It was like this for a few more seconds and she settled down.

"Dude! I didn't know you have PE."

"I didn't know you have PE." Both of them laughed grabbing the attention of almost every person in the gym.

"Yo Steven, you'd never guess who I saw in biology third period."

"Who?"

"Aw really? I thought you were going to guess..."Amethyst pouted, crossing her arms.

"But I don't know anybody else instead of you."

"Two years in and you haven't made any friends? That's strange coming from you." Seven raises an eyebrow.

"How come?"

"You know, you're the one with the outgoing attitude and always bubbly."

"I am not bubbly. I'm interactive. Besides I have made friends."

"Oh yeah? Like who?" She asked, clearly not convinced.

"Uh, there's Sadie... uh, Ronaldo, Lars, Sour Cream-"

"Okay fine Mr. Popular. Now that I think of it, you're dad was a renowned rock star. You would think that girls would pay more attention to you because of that."

"I don't care about stuff like that. It's better for me because I don't have to worry about befriending people with motives."

"Yeah yeah, but you know what's wild?" Steven is starting to lose patience.

"What?" Amethyst then started to giggle.

"Connie is in my Biology class." Steven's face turned crimson from the news.

"Y-you don't say..." Steven uttered, feeling a bit uneasy.

"So? Did you talk to her yet?"

"Yeah. We met over the summer, I saw her on the beach drawing in the sand so I rode a bike to show off."

"Wait... You rode your bike in the sand?"

"I wasn't tying to break my funky flow."

"Bruh." Amethyst collapsed on the floor.

"Oh shut up Amy, she found it really cool."

"Yeah, let's say that." Amethyst retorted.

O08oo

It was lunch period, for Steven. it meant socializing with people and eating his dad's turkey sandwich and a cookie cat to finish it off. But for right now he's looking for the spot Amy was sitting. He wandered the cafeteria looking for that spot near the entrance and finally spotted her with one other person.

With stealth, he sat down at the table with only Amethyst noticing him. She greeted him and continued on eating his lunch. He took this time to look around the cafeteria. It was your typical, rowdy, cafeteria. Every conversation is drowned out by every other, people being high profile as if trying to show that they can have a good time, and the people who merely can't sit still, usually up and about running around or annoying other people.

Without regard to this one girl who was walking by with an assistant principal, to far to actually make out her face but that hairstyle is strikingly familiar. He chose to shrug it off and finish his lunch.

O08oo

 **The next day**

It was first period and Steven decided to give another go on trying to talk to the girl that is sitting at their table.

"Hi." Steven started. The girl then looked his way.

"Hello." she replied. Steven internally congratulated himself at getting her to speak to him.

"The name's Steven."

"Lapis."

"Are you new to this school?"

"Yeah, I'm still not used to the change though, everything is so different here." Steven acknowledged.

"I see what you mean, when I came to this school for the first time, I was pretty nervous too. But my friends are always there to help me out."

"You must have great friends."

"I can always make more." Steven smiled, giggling a little after. This made Lapis less tense and more willing to talk to Steven. Talking will have to wait it seems because Ms. G is giving a lecture about nutrition.

O08oo

At the end of the period, Steven and Lapis bid their goodbye's and were off to second period. In the hallway, it was packed and there were a few people who want to make things a little more complicated by blocking the hallway by chatting with their friends. This annoyed Steven, causing him to turn around and look for another route.

He tried to turn the corner when someone bumped into him dropping their books onto the floor. Steven quickly apologized and helped with picking up the books. He handed back to the stranger until he actually got a good look at who he was helping. The feeling of excitement, confusion, and nostalgia hit him like a 2 ton brick to the face.

"Peri?"

"Steven?"

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys, I just wanted to drop in and say hi to the people who is reading this fic. Uhh, This chapter is just to see if anyone is interested in the concept or not. I don't even think that i'm going to write this much either but it depends. Also, please excuse any grammar, and spelling errors. Please review so I know whether to continue or not. Think of this first chapter as a pitch. Are you sold? And as always, thanks for watching. XD That was so bad.**


	2. Chapter 2

"AW COME ON! I DIDN'T EVEN TURN THE CORNER YET." She yelled at her TV. Currently, she's playing a FPS game online and let's just say, the opposition is giving her a hard time.

"Honey, pack up your things. We're leaving in a few hours." Her mom called from the other room.

"Yeah, give me a sec, I'm in the middle of a game." She hollered back.

"We need need all the time we need to get ready, you'll play your game later."

"But mom, it's online-"

"Now Peridot!"

"Alright jeez." and with that, Peridot turned off her console and packed it up in her bag. It's the late evening, she is currently making her way back to Beach City. The only reason why she's going back is because the university she want to go to is there. She admits that she did have a great childhood there, but that's behind her. She sighed as she started to pack up her stuff. She was nearly done until her mom called her down for dinner.

Walking down the stairs, she can hear her mom and aunt distant voices. As she got closer, she can make out more of the conversation.

"This is a huge change, have you talked to Peridot about it?"

"Plenty of times, but she wasn't excited about it." Peridot cuts in.

"I just want to get this over with and graduate already."

"You're so quick to grow up. Why can't you live a little?"

"How am I supposed to do that when every time I meet someone they always feel so inferior to me. Thanks to you, I have no friends!"

"Peridot! Don't talk to your mother that way! She's giving all she's got so that you can live comfortably and you thank her by being ungrateful?"

"It's okay Blue. She's just frustrated. Peridot, apologize to your aunt." she said, giving her an ice cold stare that would make anyone freeze up. Peridot shuffles her feet and twiddled her fingers.

"I'm sorry Aunt Blue, I'm sorry mom."

"Now that's better. Shall we eat?"

O08oo

Peridot was shaken awake by her mom, telling her that they've arrived to their new home. Getting up groggily, she made her way out the car and to the back of the truck to pick up her luggage. When she got everything, they made their way to her new home, this time, she was nervous.

Not primarily because of the new house, but because of this new start, because of this city, because of her life. She doubt that anybody would ever remember her face from back then, but now that she's back, it's like she's starting over again from scratch. All the people she knew before, I mean, she doesn't even count them as friends because they only talk to her because of her status. But still, It dawned her nonetheless.

Her mom took out the house keys and unlocked the front door. Dragging the luggage in few by few, she looked around a bit to see that her new residence is fairly spaced, a little more for two people but who cares? The place was still naked and still needed some Peridot touch-ups. That is if her mom allows her to.

They have brought in the last suitcase and locked the door. Her mom suggested that she should go look around, but Peridot declined, stating that she's tired. Well, It was 2 A.M. But since when did that stop her? She would go for hours just playing video games or creating software. Maybe it's because of the mandatory labor that came with moving, it wore her out.

Peridot feeling half-awake, went for her green suitcase and lazily dug around for a bed sheet. She sloppily laid it out on the floor, grabbed one of the pillows and collapsed.

O08oo

It's funny that being in a new place can really change the way you wake up in the morning, Instead of waking up to traffic, Peridot is greeted by bird songs, but it wasn't enough to overshadow the fact that the gamer was sleeping on the floor. On the moments of consciousness, there's an annoying sun ray that found its way through the blinds and is at the perfect angle to hit right on her right eye. Outwardly irritated, she groaned as she took a peek at the environment. It took her a while to soak in her surroundings as she try hard not to move too early.

She decided to stop procrastinating and sat up lazily, still a little sleepy. Rubbing her bed head made her realize that she needs to clean up, so she crawled over to her suitcase and dug for her towels and toiletries before starting her search for the bathroom. She had to open at least 4 doors until she found the bathroom. She did her business routinely. Cleaning herself up, she grabbed her glasses and trekked towards the kitchen feeling refreshed. As she got closer, she can smell the aroma of pancakes dancing past her nostrils followed by a sound of plates being set down. The kitchen came into view and she sees her mom making pancakes.

"Mom."

"Peridot." silence followed. "I made pancakes."

"I can see that."

"Do you want any?"

"Yeah..." Peridot answered. She was reluctant to grab the plate but her stomach decided for her. "Thanks."

"Mhmm." her mom went on to make a new batch. Given how there's no furniture in the house, she had no choice but to sit on the floor, which was aggravating to say the least. Peridot's mom joined her on the floor and started eating. Peridot had something on her mind that was bugging her ever since she woke up and decided to tell her about it.

"Mom?"

"If you're wondering if we're ever going to have furniture come in, don't worry. I already bought most of what we need and the movers are going to bring them soon." clearly caught off guard, peridot stood there, mouth agape. And as if they heard our brief conversation, the movers chimed the doorbell. She knows this because she heard a bunch of trucks stopping outside, she got up and opened the front door to two guys, one of them holding a clipboard.

"Uhh, Ella Dia?"

"That's me!" Ella hollered. She rushed to the door and greeted the men. The talked to her about extra services that she might want to get everything in the house. When they said this, Peridot took a peek out to see what they're talking about.

About Three trucks parked up front guessing that they're full of furniture, Peridot mouthed a 'wow' and walked to her suitcase to grab some clothes to go out and get some air. As she finished changing, the mover were already putting stuff in the house one of the guys greeted her.

"Hello there Missy."

"Good morning." she replied

"So polite." The guy uttered. She rolled her eyes and continued looking for Ella.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"I'm going out for a bit."

"Okay, be back soon." and with that she stepped out, hoping that a walk around town can help her jog her memory about this place.

Peridot enjoyed the neighborhood, it's quiet, calm, and green. She never seen so much trees in one street. Living in the concrete jungle makes you forget how great a place looks if you could just add a few more trees. At this point, she don't even know if she actually likes the scenery, the trees, or the fact that she's seeing a whole lotta green. Either way, she's enjoying herself.

She needed this, she needed a break from video games and software engineering. Staying cooped up for so long wasn't something peridot was fond of, so she took this as an opportunity to embrace the outdoors. She came across a intersection, waiting for her turn to cross. She looked across the street to see that she won't be met with the same environment a few blocks back. A little disappointed, she crossed the street anyway to see the new grounds. She might remember something going there.

It looked like a center of some sort, full of shops and attractions. There were a lot of people here, coming and going and just hanging out. Just off in the distance, you can see a huge Ferris Wheel.

"Was there an amusement park here?" She asked herself. She continued to walk around, not knowing where her feet is taking her. She came across a stand where they're selling t-shirts with cool designs on them. Browsing the stand, there was this one t-shirt that caught her eye. It was black and has a green alien head in the middle. She wanted it badly and was pretty quick to pull out her wallet to make the purchase. Now with new clothing, Peridot smiled a little more and continued to explore this place.

She came across an arcade, which made her squeal in excitement. Not missing a beat she walked in, found a game, and got her quarter ready. Before she could even put the quarter in, someone placed theirs on the corner of the station platform.

"I call next." the stranger said. This caused Peridot to look at the person next in queue, needless to say, she had to look up for this one. Both of them had a moment, Peridot in denial while the other one was sort of creeped out.

"What?" She asked.

"Is that you Jazzy?"

"Jazzy? No one has ever called me that in a long time. Say, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Jazzy it's me... does 'Dorito head' ring a bell?" The girl had moment, then a light went off in her head.

"Peridot?"

"In the flesh."

"No freaking way! It's you alright, you still look like a dweeb."

"Oh shut up. Uhm, your skin-"

"Oh this? I've been diagnosed with vitiligo years ago and it stopped spreading." Peridot nodded in understanding.

"How did you get so huge?"

"Gotta love them gains."

"So you lift weights?"

"Nah, more like eating a lot of good stuff and I run every other morning."

"I see."

"Well enough about me, how about we talk over a game of air hockey."

"I don't mind" They proceeded to the section of the arcade where there are six air hockey tables. A few of them were being used but there was one open so we got to a table and started playing.

" So what happened back then, you kind of left without telling anybody anything."

"My mom was needed in New York because of a business crisis to which I'm not allowed to say anything. It was a tough decision on her part because we had to leave here, a place she thinks that had everything going for me."

"Don't you think that?"

"Well, no. I was a kid and I didn't understand the weight of the situation at the time. Besides I enjoyed being in New York City."

"Ooh. The Big Apple huh?"

"Yup."

"What brings you back here then."

"The University I want to go to is in Beach City."

"So how do you like your stay?"

"I've only been here for a day so I can't chalk up anything at the moment. Although meeting you again was pretty cool." Jazzy smiled at that.

"It's good to have you back, Peridot."

"It's good to see you again, Jasper." With Peridot distracted, Jasper snuck in a strike and the puck instantly passed Peridot's defenses and whizzed in the goal.

"Yes! I won haha." Jasper celebrated. Peridot wasn't that discouraged the she lost, this is one of the few times she played air hockey so she's not good at it. It was fun though, and with any type of fun, it must come to an end. Her phone rang showing that it's her mom calling to come back home.

"I got to go home."

"Aww. Okay." They walked out of the arcade and said goodbye to each other. She walked a few steps forward and stopped frantically looking left and right.

"Uh Peridot? Are you lost?" Peridot turned around embarrassed.

"No!...Yes... Help me..." Jasper giggled

"Okay sure! Just tell me where you live, I know my way around." Peridot told her the address and started to follow her.

It took them a while but she finally arrived to her new home. She noticed that the trucks are gone, indicating that they must have finished putting everything in the house. Peridot turned left and walked toward her porch.

"You live here?"

"Yup." She fiddled with her keys and unlocked the front door. What waited for them inside was impressive.

"Woah, you have a big house." Peridot shrugged it off as if to say she seen better.

"Oh you brought a friend." Ella mentioned

"Hey mom." Ella gave Jasper a hard look.

"Is that Jasper?"

"How did-" Ella rushed to Jasper and gave her a hug.

"It's been too long. Look at you! You're turning into a beautiful young woman."

"Thank you Ms. Dia"

"I'm glad that Peridot was able to have one friend here."

"Don't worry ma'am Peridot is in good hands from now on."

"Is that so? Peridot, This is good news."

"Yeah... great." she replied, unenthusiastic.

"This is going to be awesome! Do you know what classes you're taking?"

"Classes? Uh, I'm not enrolled in school yet."

"Really? School starts tomorrow."

"You ladies should go and buy some supplies." Ella left to go fetch her purse.

"Your mom is nice."

"When there's company." she retorted. Ella walked back downstairs with her purse in hand looking for money to give.

"Here. Get whatever you need and have fun." Ella handed Peridot $200 and rubbed her head.

"Thanks." and with that, Peridot dropped off her net tee and they left the house to go get school supplies.

The girls came across a office supply store and walked in, grabbing a cart and started looking.

"How was New York City?" a little caught off guard by Jasper's question, she tries to answer it.

"It's different I suppose. The people, the buildings, the food... Even though it's not the best place in the world, I enjoyed it anyway."

"Did you make any friends?"

"N-No. People wouldn't even speak to me because I'm a Dia"

"Dia? What does your last name have to do with anything?"

"I am apparently the great-granddaughter of Queen Ella or as people call her, 'Yellow Diamond'."

"Dude... that's awesome! You're like royalty and stuff! Are you a princess?"

"No, I'm not a princess, I'm peridot. Because of people thinking that, I have made more enemies than friends. No one would talk to me because I might banish them or execute them or something. People are stupid nowadays. I never wanted it to be like this, I wanted a normal life like everybody else."

"I get it. I still think it's cool though."

"As long as you don't call me princess, I'm fine."

"Whatever you say your Majesty." Peridot gave the longest groan.  
"Please don't start."

It seems like she got everything that she needed for school tomorrow and Jasper felt the need to walk Peridot home. They said their goodbyes and parted. Peridot walks in and made a beeline to her room which is now full of furniture. Queen sized bed, with teak wood as the bed frame, nightstand, mirror, and dresser. She face palmed.

"I told her not to go overboard." and as to confirm that she opened one of the drawers to see a tag reading 'Imported from India'.

"I shouldn't be complaining but honestly." she said with a sigh. She found her way to her bed and plopped onto it.

"Even the bed feels expensive." She tumbled around her large bed looking for that perfect position to sleep in. It took no time given how the bed is so comfortable, she instantly fell asleep.

O08oo

It's amazing how a bed can make you feel so refreshed in the morning. Stretching out the sleepiness, she made her way to the bathroom to clean herself up. She decided to wear her new tee with a green flannel shirt and jean shorts just above her knees. She made her way downstairs and walk towards the kitchen to get some cereal.

"Peridot, we need to get ready to leave soon so eat up."

"Okay." Ella then called for a driving service to take them to Beach City High School. Ready, and waiting by the front door, Peridot heard a car horn and opened the door while Ella followed suit. It took

ten minutes to get to the school and can already see people walking in the building to start their year of torture.

The Dia's got out the car and made their way to the front office to register Peridot. The process took a very long time due to the other parents trying to register their children also. It was nine o'clock when she finally got registered. Now they're picking out classes she wanted to take. As an elective, she chose computer science and software engineering. All the other classes were cores so there's no touching those. When the lady finally printed out the schedule, someone walked in greeting them.

"Good morning Mrs. Dia. I'm Ms. Totes, the principal here in Beach City High School. When I heard you were on campus, I came here as soon as I can. It's an honor to have you here." Everyone in the room stopped and stared at us wondering what's making Ms. Totes give so much respect to these people. Embarrassed, Peridot tried to hide in the seat, but Ella shook the principals hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." Ms. Totes looks over at Peridot.

"And who is this beautiful young lady?"

"She's my daughter, Peridot."

"Hello there Peridot, it's nice for you to enroll in our school."

"Thank you?" It's so weird how she just barged in here and started to ramble that nonsense. After all that, Ella went back home and Peridot is escorted to her next class. But her next class is lunch so an assistant principal recommended her to grab lunch from the cafeteria and come back here to eat. She agreed and followed him to the cafeteria to get lunch. She immediately regretted it when she took a look at what they're serving. Making a mental note to have lunch made at home.

Lunch ends and she was told to look at her schedule for the room number of her classes, she thanked the AP and trekked to her next class. Looking intensely at the room numbers, she eventually found the class and knocked on the door. A student opened the door, letting her in. The whole class has eyes on her when she walked in and handed the teacher her schedule. She looked for s free seat when she noticed Jasper waving an empty seat in the back of the class next to her. She sat with her and shared a glance.

"It's about time you show your face." she whispered.

"I was held up."

"Yeah okay-"

"I'll wait!" the teacher yelled.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

All the other classes functioned the same actually. Welcoming students to a new school year, establishing rules of the class, and give people a layout of upcoming lessons. When the final bell rang, everybody rushed out the door crowding the hallway real quickly, making it difficult to leave campus. As she finally got outside, she sees Jasper loitering. She wondered if she was waiting for her, she does look like she's looking for someone. Their eyes finally met and she made her way towards Peridot.

"Hey Peridot, I was waiting."

"Really? I would think that you had stuff to do."

"Oh I do, just not now. How are you going to get home?"

"Well my mom is working at this time and I don't have a car, surprisingly. So I might as well call Pik-me-up to drive me home."

"Oh okay."

"What? Is there something to want to tell me?"

"Well I was wondering if you would like to come over to my house sometime."

"I'll have to ask my mom about that."

"Of course. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Jasper waved goodbye and started walking home while Peridot waits for her ride. It's a pretty average day to say the least, hopefully it'll stay that way.

O08oo

 **The next day.**

It's the end of first period and Peridot is not yet used to the twists and turns of the school, and the fact that the students were slowing her down is driving her up a wall.

"How can you idiots be so slow?" She spoke to herself. She snaked past them and went to turn a corner until someone bumped into her scattering all of her books on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The boy said picking up her books.

"I-It's okay, I wasn't looking either." Helping him. When he handed them off to Peridot, they both froze. For some reason, her heart is going a mile a minute and her mouth is slowly opening. As she keeps staring at the boy, she swears that she recognize him from somewhere.

"Peri?" The boy assumed. Then it clicked, she remembers who this person is. She remembers the adventures, the things they did when they were kids. It was all coming back to her ten fold. Is this really-

"Steven?" He reacted in awe as Peridot's open mouth turned into a huge grin. She couldn't contain herself as she attacked Steven with a hug. Steven received the hug and spun her around a few getting a few laughs out of her. He eventually set her down and they both took a good look at each other, seeing how much they've changed.

"I thought you left."

"I did. But I came back."

"Why?"

"It's a long story." Peridot looked down to see all her books on the floor again. She started to pick them up with Steven's help. She just can't keep her eye's off of Steven, when he noticed, he got a little defensive.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Peridot shook her head.

"Your hair is longer than I remember"

"Oh this? I wanted to see how I'd look with longer hair."

"It suits you."

"Thanks Peri... Uhh, what class do you have next?"

"Uhh..." Peridot frantically looked for her schedule.

"Health"

"Which teacher?"

"Ms. Garnet..."

"Oh cool, I have her first period, she's awesome. Do you know how to get there?" Peridot shook her head. Steven then gave her directions to the room. Thanking him, she jogged off, trying to beat the late bell. When she got there, She greeted Ms. G and gave her the schedule. Ms. G looked it over and told Peridot to find a table to sit in. As she sat down, it felt like she can finally breathe. She couldn't believe she met Steven again.

 **A/N**

 **Okay so I wrote a lot this chapter, maybe because Peridot had more context to work with vs Steven. I don't know... I understand people have their opinion about Stevidot, for some outlandish reason, it's a taboo pairing. To me, it would be awesome to make it canon. If you want to talk more about the injustice of this OTP, PM me and let's talk about it.**

 **Again, please excuse any spelling and grammar errors. I might actually need a beta reader if I'm going to make chapter of this length.**

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. I honestly thought the high school AU thing was lame, but you guys liked it! Which is good... Make sure to leave a review as to how I did, first time tackling a shipping fic. And as always, thanks for watching. That's still bad XD**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Pfft... School... Am I right guys?... Guys?

O08oo

Walking down to his 2nd period, he greets the English teacher at the door and promptly took his seat near the smartboard. At this point, he's killing the extra time he had to text Amethyst.

 _(Steven) StarChild: Hey Amy… guess what?_

 _(Amethyst) Purpl3puma: What?_

 _Purpl3puma: Steven?_

 _Purpl3puma: Yoooo_

 _StarChild: Oh srry, i was moving to another desk. You couldn't wait a few minutes? XD_

 _Purpl3puma: Nah bro… I needs to know._

 _StarChild: ok ok_

 _Purpl3puma: Is it about connie?_

 _StarChild: who?_

 _StarChild: jkjk… no it's not about connie_

In the middle of typing, a familiar face came up to greet him.

"Hey Steven." Steven looked up and gave her a warm smile.

"Oh hey Sapphire. Lovely weather we are having." Sapphire chuckled.

"I guess the weather is fine. Hopefully it stays that way."

"What do you mean?"

"There's going to be a 40% of rain after school and i'm not planning on getting this hair wet." Both laughed at that remark.

"Now that I think about it, your hair does look nice."

"Thanks, I'm going out to dinner with someone.."

"Oh that's great! Who's the lucky guy?"

"Gal…" Steven held a breath, as he thought that he just stepped on a landmine. Sapphire broke the awkward silence with a laugh.

"The look on your face! Hahaha It's cool, really. You didn't know." Even with Sapphire's assurance he can only make up with a nervous laugh.

"It's not really like that anyways, we are just eating out with our parents and I just wanted to look nice."

"I see." Steven breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was just a misunderstanding.

"Oh yeah I forgot, do you have that English homework done?" Steven eyes narrowed.

"Yeah… why?" Sapphire started to twiddle her thumbs.

"You see, what had happened-"

"No way. You didn't do it?"

"Hey I was tired, okay? A-and my favorite show had a marathon so forgot. And I might've dropped it in the sink- but those are minor details!" Steven raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Wait… You dropped your homework in the sink? How?"

"I was tired Steven. Leave me alooone." She said in a whining tone.. Steven responded with smile and shook his head. He grabbed his backpack and pulled out the homework to give to Sapphire. When she was about to take it, Steven reeled his arm back.

"I want it back dry." And extended his arm once more. She took the paper and proceeded to walk away.

"Don't judge me…" With that, she went back to her seat and started on her homework. Steven got occupied with looking for his supplies but his phone's vibrating made him remember that he was texting Amethyst.

 _Purpl3puma: Yo steven…_

 _Purpl3puma: Wya?_

 _Purpl3puma: Aye!_

 _StarChild: Srry amy, i was talking to someone._

 _Purpl3puma: Yea yea. What were you going to tell me?_

 _StarChild: Oh yea, I met an old friend_

 _Purpl3puma: Really… how old? are we talking old old?_

 _Purpl3puma: Like does this person have teeth?_

 _StarChild: Lml yes. She goes to this school._

 _Purpl3puma: Oh does she now…_

The late bell rings starting 2nd period.

 _StarChild: Class is starting, I'll tell you later._

 _Purpl3puma: K dude_

Steven stored his phone in his pocket and took out a notebook from his bag. He started writing his header until he sees his homework in front of him. He looked up to a smiling Sapphire.

"Thanks Steven."

"No prob." Sapphire went back to her seat and as if on cue, the English teacher started her lecture.

O08oo

Steven starts to pack up his books with the end of the period nearing. Most kids talked with their friends and a few more piled up at the door waiting for the sweet sound of the bell to ring. And Just like anybody else, Steven would like to leave in a hurry too, but he has to wait, just like everyone else. He checks the time on his phone hoping that a minute is left before the bell dismisses them, but a shove made him break focus. He looked behind him to spot Sapphire smiling guiltily at him.

"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Steven commented. Sapphire scoffed.

"You'll be fine. Besides, I seen you go through a lot more."

"Oh yeah?" Steven sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Sapphire lightly pushed him.

"Yeah you dork, you're like, a human shield or something. You should go back to sports."

"You think so?" The bell rang, so steven, Sapphire, and all the other students rushed out the door and to their next period.

"Yeah, I do." Sapphire continued. "Just think about it. Anyways, I'll see you later."

"Bye" They went their separate ways and Steven is finding his way through the crowd. As usual, he grew irritated and started to lightly shove past the loitering students. Then again, why is he in such a hurry? He's spending the period as a office assistant anyways. It could be that with each passing day, he's starting to growing impatient with class intermissions. He just want to get to class, simple as that.

He arrived to his designated office and waited until the office lady has an errand for him to run. Every now and then, days would be easy and laid back. Other days would hectic busy, luckily for him, it's the former. So he uses this time wisely and relaxed, because after this, he might not catch a break like this later.

O08oo

Fourth period came along and he makes his way toward PE when suddenly he crashes into a large girl.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you bonehead."

"Sorry."

"Yeah whatever." and she continued walking.

"That was rude." Steven whispered to himself. Given how they both were walking at a pace that screams 'I want to get to my next class', he thinks that they were just careless for a few seconds. Steven didn't dwell over it any more than he had to, so he continued on to PE.

He walks in the gym looking for Amethyst, but she was faster.

"Steven!" Amethyst yelled from behind.

"Jesus Christ! Stop sneaking up on people like that."

"What's up?" Steven tried to regulate his fast beating heart.

"I'm fine… What's going on with you lately?"

"I've been around, people have been really paying attention to me lately." Amethyst blushed while she rubbed the back of her head. A light went off in Steven's head.

"Is it because that flash mob you guys did yesterday?"

"Most likely."

"You were awesome! Don't you like the attention?"

"I dunno, maybe? It's just overwhelming I guess… I didn't think people would remember me."

"How can they not remember you? You were front and center!"

"I guess I didn't know it would turn out like this." Amethyst looks off while rubbing her arm. Steven grabs her shoulders, catching her attention.

"Don't doubt yourself now, you can dance. Let people know that." Amethyst stares at him for a moment, then snickered.

"Aww look at you! You ain't getting soft on me are ya?" She commented while putting Steven in the in a headlock.

"*Chuckles* No way."

Steven and Amethyst walked to their spot on the floor and waits for the teacher to dismiss them to their locker room. The gym teacher finally gave the 'OK' to head out. Steven opened his locker and started to change.

"Dude...That girl from yesterday is in our class." Steven paused a bit to eavesdrop.

"Wait… Really? Man I wish I could talk to her."

"Yeah bro. She hangs around that guy over there. You can maybe ask him." Steven pretended he didn't just hear what they said and finished changing.  
"Yo bro." Steven turned his head and sees a rather tall guy approach him.

"Yeah." Steven answered.

"The name's Jimmy"

"I'm Steven. Anything wrong?"

"Uh nothing much. I just want to ask you a question." Jimmy stammered a little, obviously nervous.

"And that is?" Steven urges him on.

"You know that chick that always sits next to you in Gym?"

"You mean Amethyst?"

"... Yeah yeah, her. You know her?"

"She's my best friend." He unconsciously challenged.

"Oh word? Then it's cool for me to mack?" This question made Steven cringe a little.

"Huh?"

"I like her dude, and I just want to know if she's available."

"Oh. Well...I know she's single. Try asking her out?"

"Okay… Thanks bro."

"It's Steven." he corrected.

"Steven… Thanks a lot" Jimmy finished. He then walked back to his friends and chatting it up about basketball. Steven was done changing so he left the locker room and went back in the gym where he met up with an impatient Amethyst.

"Took you long enough." she spat.

"Got held up in the locker room… You're quite the conversation amongst the boys."

"They were talking about me?" Thinking that they were making fun of her. She pulled up her gym shorts higher than her waistline as if she's ready to fight.

"Point them out Steven." Steven notices this and quickly tries to defuse the situation from escalating.

"Amy, they weren't bad things, they were just impressed on what you did yesterday." She lets go of her hem and looks at Steven embarrassed.

"Oh." Steven chuckled.

"Were you serious about beating somebody up?"

"You know it! They're just lucky it was nice things that they were talking about."

"Oh geez." Then Steven remembered some that he wanted to talk about with her.

"Oh yeah! My old friend that I was talking about, her name is Peridot." Amethyst put a finger on her chin thinking hard about this name.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"That's because she came back to Beach City for the first time in years."

"That long huh?" Steven nodded and the whistle from the gym teacher caught everybody's attention.

"Okay, let's go outside and do some laps!"

The whole gymnasium groaned but Steven and Amethyst looked at each other competitively.

"Bet I can beat your mile time." Steven challenged.

"Bet you can't." she accepted.

O08oo

The two of them are literally heaving down the hallway towards the commons. Steven would stop at one of the water fountains and take a minute or so to drink the water. Until Amethyst had enough waiting and shove him aside getting her dose of H₂O.

"Jesus what do you eat?" Amethyst put one finger up telling Steven to 'hold on' as she continues drinking from the fountain. She finally got her last sip and caught her breath.

"Healthy foods."

"Fair enough." They proceeded on to the commons.

"Maybe I should eat healthier too." Steven shamefully held his belly.

"Nah, I don't think so. You could get rid of it by running more. Other than that, you're pretty fit than most of the guys in our class." she approved.

"Thanks Amy. How can you have so much energy?"

"I need that stamina to make a speedy getaway when i'm done pranking people. That way, they literally won't know what hit em'." She said throwing a punch in the air. Earning a laugh from Steven. Finally in the commons, they found their usual table and the conversation went from Athletic prowess to the new Power Rangers movie.

"Why would they do this to my favorite childhood show?"

"They're feeding off of your nostalgia… don't let them take your money!"

"But… But… It's Power Rangers. I don't know… I want it to be good but i feel like it's going to be a huge flop." she said in a whiny voice.

"It'll probably will. Given how it's trying to appeal to an older audience. The plot is kind of heavy for kids…"

"Is it? Is it really?" Amethyst questioned. Steven groaned.

"Don't start with that." He scolded her. He looks around the commons for good measure. He spots girl with a recognizable blonde hair sitting alone just about to eat. Excited, he calls out to her.

"Peri!" This made Amethyst turn her head in curiosity. But Peridot didn't notice.

"PERI!" She noticed this time, Looking for the source of the yelling, she notices and got a little embarrassed because of the attention she's getting from some people. Regardless, she packed up and went to Steven's table with a grin. He cleared some space for her to sit next to him.

"Hey Steven, I didn't know you had this lunch period."

"Right back at cha. I think it's because we didn't really have time to say any of that anyways, so it makes sense."

"I guess you're right, Ugh… My head is killing me-"

"Ahem!" Amethyst made herself exist again, catching the attention of Steven and Peridot.

"Oh right! Sorry Amy. Peridot, this my best friend Amethyst but I call her Amy. Amy, This is my old friend Peridot, but I call her Peri." The two girls exchange glances, Peridot more shy and Amethyst being more content. Peridot waved and Amethyst responded with a head nod.

"Awesome! Now that that's out the way-"

"I'm just curious, how do you guys know each other?" Amethyst interrupted. At this point, Steven is making his cheeks blow up like a puffer fish and Peridot is looking up as if the answer is on the ceiling.

"Wow… Uh, wasn't it the time that I saw you under the tree playing with an airplane?" A bell went off in Peridot's head.

"Oh yeah! You wanted to show me a trick. He literally chucked my plane telling me 'oh look, I can make it fly!'" Amethyst just kept staring.

"Yeah, it didn't fly… I basically broke her plane. She started crying and I tried saying sorry but she just kept crying."

"I really liked that plane you dork!" Peridot sulked.

"Mind you, this was at Beach City Park-" Then Peridot picked up.

"The odds of us seeing each other again was pretty slim-" then Steven.

"With crazy luck, we saw each other again in the freaking furniture department store. And I had a toy plane too. So I went up to her and gave her my plane, but her mom was protesting for Peridot to not take it-"

"His dad came in and convinced my mom that it's okay for me to take it. We were close ever since." Peridot finished. Steven suddenly shook Peridot's shoulder

"Oh! Do you remember that time when I had the juice incident?"

"Oh jeez. Your dad can't leave us alone for ten minutes! And you need help!" Both laughed and Amethyst still stared. Steven and Peridot both looked at her with excitement but Peridot beat him to the punch.

"Okay so this idiot called a number and ordered a truckload of apple juice under his dad's name. Since Greg is famous and all, the order was placed and it arrived to the house within the hour. They actually let Steven sign too! I swear, I'm still shocked that it happened-"

"Stop acting like you were the innocent one here! Last time I checked, you thought it was a good idea to drain the pool." Steven then turns his attention to Amethyst.

"We were like nine and Peri knew how to freaking drain a pool-"

"Wait, what happened with all the apple juice?" Amethyst cut in. They looked at each other and smiled.

"We dumped it in the pool!" they said in unison

"You guys what!?"

"We dumped the apple juice in the pool." Steven repeated.

"We swam in it. I found it oddly refreshing. Just don't dry off, it's unpleasant." Peridot added.

"You want to do it again?" Peridot put her hands up.

"No way. Besides, Greg's face when he saw the pool was priceless... And the bill!"

"Yeah... he wasn't happy that day. He was impressed though."

"What for signing the truckload or the juice pool?"

"Definitely the juice pool."

"Juice pool, juice pool, juice pool!" Acting like little kids again, but the chant annoyed Amethyst.

"Okay guys. I get it. Can we talk about something else?" Amethyst asked. Steven agreed and went on to talk about the Monster Trucks movie.

O08oo

The three bid their goodbyes and went to their respective classes. Steven made his way to Algebra 2 where he was greeted with a bunch of laid back seniors who most likely knew each other since freshman year. One of his friends sees Steven and greeted him.

"Steven!" he hollered

"Sour Cream!"

"Wut up starchild?"

"Trying to pass this class like you bro."

"True… Hey, did your dad get my email If i could use some of his music for a mix?"

"I don't know, but i'll tell him when I get home."

"Thanks dude."

"Hey Steven!" Steven shifts his head to the side to see Sadie waving at him with Lars two seats behind looking at him with a sour look. Steven walks to her and Sadie met him halfway for the hug.

"Hey Sadie. Are you getting taller?"

"Pfft… yeah, and Lars sleeps clothed." Sadie snickered. In an untimely fashion, Lars sneezed out of nowhere, followed by a couple of 'bless you' from classmates. Steven chuckled.

"Come on, give him a break. Maybe it's hot in his room…"

"You and I know good and well that's not the case."

"Then what is the case?" Steven notices Sadie getting distracted by somebody coming in the room. Steven turns to see Ronaldo walk in. He turns back to see a now tense Sadie. He waves a hand in front of her face, catching her attention.

"Huh? What did you say?" she asked.

"... Nevermind" Steven waved off. He went to his desk and waited for the bell to ring, as did Sadie.

O08oo

When the final bell rang, it was so obvious that people want to go home as soon as possible. The hallways instantly filled up with student's rushing to get to that spot on the bus, or drive out the parking lot. There are the exceptions of people loitering and walking slow, which is of huge annoyance to Steven. He ignored these type of people mostly because it's not worth losing sleep over.

He finally got to the 'Exit' door to the parking lot and starts to walk to his car. It's a relatively large lot with some people coming to school with sports cars. You can also see the occasional tricked out car, I'm talking crazy paint jobs, chrome rims, and anything that's aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

But just like everybody else in that lot, he got to get home.

O08oo

Steven Parked up in the garage and made his way to the living room where he sees his dad with a yoga instructor doing yoga.

"Breathe in," Greg and the instructor breathed in from the nose

"And out," and exhaled from the mouth.

"And hold." she instructed. Steven can see his dad struggling, but keeping quiet about it. For Greg, it felt like forever holding that position and he's almost on the verge of collapsing.

"And release."

"Ahhh…" He relaxed and is catching his breath while the Instructor is packing up.

"You're making great progress Mr. Universe, same time on friday?"

"Sure… Yeah, Friday."

"Alright. Have a good afternoon." With that, she heads for the exit and greeted Steven on her way out. He walks up to Greg without him noticing.

"That looks fun, pretty nifty position there." Steven commented.

"It's a lot harder than it looks…"

"You don't say..."

"Yeah Yeah, Just get me my towel." he tries to sit up, but he groaned and laid down again.

"Just looking at you makes me feel bad."

"That's the point. Pity me Steven! Give me some oreos Steven!" He whined, earning a chuckle from Steven."

"Haha fine." He go fetches a towel from the counter and the box of oreos from the snack pantry. He got back to Greg and handed him both items.

"Thanks shto-ball..." Greg grabs and drinks a bottle of water a little too quickly but downed the whole thing. Steven speaks up.

"Any progress?"

"I feel more flexible… Uh… My gut is disappearing…"

"That's awesome! Dad I'm proud."

"Yeah… I kind of needed to get my stuff together anyway, got to be fit so I can move on stage." Taking what Greg said, Steven then started to get deep in thought. Thinking about his father's career as a musician.

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"I saw peridot yesterday!" Greg gives a look of confusion and then gave it some thought.

"Peridot… Peridot… Peri- wait. That girl from way way back?"

"Yup! The one that I gave my toy plane to."

"Ooooooh. She's in Beach City?"

"Yes dad. That's how I saw her." Steven remarked, a little annoyed.

"Well isn't that something. How did it go?"

"We kind of- no, we literally bumped into each other. She was happy to see me."

"That's great Steven. It's been years since. Must've been pretty exciting."

"Yeah, but I don't understand why she up and left in the first place… She left… But we didn't…" He said, having his enthusiasm fade.

"Why did we stay in Beach City?" He started.

"You know? You're famous, you have fans, Why aren't you on tour doing what you love?" Greg looked at him and sighed.

"You know Steven, I had good days when I made music and going on tour. It's what I always wanted to do. Making music that people love y'know? Your mother always supported everything that I did and understood when I needed space." Greg looks at Steven as to verify if he was listening.

"There were times when I felt like giving up, but your mother always found a way to pick me back up and try. She always had a eye for this kind of stuff." Steven listened and the look of guilt washed over him like a tsunami.

"I'm sorry dad. I'm so sorry." when Steven said this, Greg picked up on it immediately and grabs his shoulders and said in a stern voice.

"Steven, don't you- look at me!" Steven eyes locked on his now.

"Don't you dare think like that, you are the best thing that ever happened to your mother, especially to me. When she gave birth to you, I've never cried so much in one day. From your birth, to her…" He paused.

"I made a promise to her and myself that day… To make you into a person she would be proud of. So I put my dreams on hold so that you can grow up with friends and people that love and care about you."

Steven is shedding tears at this point. How could he be so stupid, his dad is happy to be with him so why all the guilt? It could be from not getting to see what his mom was like, or it could be that he felt responsible that his mother didn't make it. But, despite all that, his dad loves him just as unconditionally. He pulled Greg closer for a hug.

"I love you dad." Greg squeezed back.

"I love you too kiddo." They separate and took a minute or two to recuperate.

"Don't you have homework to get to?"

"You say you love me and now you're sending me off to my death?" Greg chuckled.

"Don't be so dramatic. It's just homework."

"You're just saying that because you don't have to do it." Steven accused.

"Yeah, pretty much." Greg shrugged.

"Fine… I was going to do it anyways." He walks off up the stairs and Into his bedroom.

O08oo

Working on his homework like a good kid, he would let his mind wander sometimes, thinking about the conversation he had with his dad, Peridot in Beach City, and why did Amethyst look like that in lunch today. Overall, he found that today was interesting and pivotal in many ways.

There he his, racking his brain to finish his algebra homework.

' _Why does math have to be so complicated?'_

He took another break and just sat there exhausted and relieved. He spins in his rolling chair looks around his room. It's larger than most rooms. One side of his room is glass broken up into squares, and since it's nighttime, he has his navy blue curtains closed. On the other side of the room, there's a wall full of posters, ranging from his favorite movies, to his favorite games and shows, His counter had been recently cleaned from him building a ship from popsicle sticks. Finally in the top center, lies a bed that's a little too big for Steven, but he didn't care. More room for him right? Just as he was about to go back to finishing up, his phone vibrated indicating a text, and it's from Amethyst.

 _Purpl3puma: yo steve-o_

 _StarChild: hey amy_

 _Purpl3puma: are you free on saturday by any chance?_

 _StarChild: yea… what are we doing?_

 _Purpl3puma: y'know, jus hangin out, going to the amusement park._

 _StarChild: i need a break anyway_

 _Purpl3puma: sweet! What do you need a break from?_

 _StarChild: everything… XD_

 _Purpl3puma: Lol, yeah ok_

 _StarChild: soo what do you think of peri?_

 _Purpl3puma: uh… she's okay i guess._

 _StarChild: oh really? I thought you liked her._

 _Purpl3puma: the keyword here is 'thought', and you thought wrong._

 _StarChild: So you don't like her?_

 _Purpl3puma: It's not that I don't like her…_

 _Purpl3puma: look…_

 _Purpl3puma: forget it, just forget it… I'll see you later dude._

 _StarChild: oh, okay then._

"That was weird." he thought out loud. Steven is not really understanding Amethyst attitude towards Peridot but hopefully it's isn't anything that he should be worried about. For right now, he's tired and bitterly looks at his unfinished homework and uttered,

"I'll do it in the morning." With that statement, he got ready for bed and fell asleep.

A/N:

Hey guys, now here's the deal, you all have might have been on this site long enough to understand that a good amount of us can't just religiously update. I apologise anyway for taking too long updating this chapter and hopefully I didn't lose any people because of it. I made this chapter longer to make up for lost time. I also like to thank me beta reader that has no name. She helped out a lot! So do what you do best… Read & Review! And as always, thanks for watching. That's still bad. XD


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

Remember guys, your voice matters. If i'm not getting the go ahead, then i'm assuming that it got boring or you're not riding with it. If you want more, say you want more. If you like the pace i'm going in, tell me that. Because honestly, I can't read your minds. With that aside, Enjoy this chapter!

O08oo

Peridot was concerned this whole time that it was going to be awkward, or somebody is going to be brave enough to kidnap her. It's just like a taxi, but with a different name. She was reluctant to try Pick Me-Up because you have no idea who's in that car. Later on, she realised that the same applies to taxies so she gave it a go. To her surprise, it wasn't that bad. In fact it was way better than a taxi. As much as she enjoyed the service, it didn't stop her mom from making some "minor" changes.

* _Flashback: Morning*_

With earbuds in her ears, she left her room and proceeded downstairs nodding her head to the beat of the music.

"There ain't nobody as bomb as me

I'm as calm as the breeze

I'm the bee's knees, his legs, and his arms

I'm a superstar, boy I'm ready for-"

"Peridot."

"Daddy, why you think the only thing I got on is my pajamas?"

"PERIDOT!" reacting to the undeniable sound of her mother, she quickly pulled out her earbuds and responded in a dumbfounded tone.

"Huh?" she found her mother sitting at the breakfast table, but there was someone else standing next to her.

"Breakfast is ready." Ella said. Peridot slowed her pace walking towards the two, Ella looked at her, then the man standing next to her.

"This is Tahitan, our new butler." Tahitan then gave a slight bow to her.

"Good morning M'lady."

"Hello..." she just waved back and sat down at the table. She looks at her plate that's decorated with food. There's bacon, eggs, and pancakes with a glass of orange juice. Wasting no time, she grabbed a fork and attacked the bacon.

On her third strip of bacon, Tahitan excused himself and headed in the kitchen. Peridot swallowed hard and looked at her mother.

"Mom? Why is there a butler?"

"Why are you asking me such a trivial question?"

"Gee I don't know. It's totally not because a random butler appeared in the dining room... Why didn't you tell me you were getting one?"

"I didn't think I needed to." Ella said. Peridot just looks at her.

"Mom… Why do we have a butler?" she said. Ella sighed.

"Your uncle couldn't stand the thought of his older sister out and about from the kingdom without some sort of way to be taken care of." Peridot turned wide eyed.

"Uncle Beryl? How did he find us?"

"Honey, I don't want to talk about it. I'll handle that matter later."

"Uh, okay. But what are we going to do about him?" They both glanced at Tahitan cleaning the kitchen.

"I don't know. I have no idea where he came from, he just gave me a letter from Beryl and just went straight to work." They continued to stare. "Although, he is pretty versatile." Peridot shrugged.

"Ehh, I'll give him that." Tahitan is a couple of inches taller than the gamer, his hair gelled to slick back. Contrasting his copper skin are hazel eyes that makes him look like a feline of some sort. He continued working on the dishes, oblivious to the intense stare from Peridot.

After a few minutes of examining him, she sighed and drank the rest of the orange juice.

Checking the time on her phone, she need to head out now if she's going to make it to school on time. She grabbed her backpack and headed towards the door.

"Miss Dia! May I ask where you're headed?" Peridot turned to Tahitan and gave him a confused look, like it wasn't obvious of where she's going.

"I'm going to school Tai"

"Tahitan"

"Yeah whatever." she then proceeded to open the front door.

"Wait! Allow me to drive you!" he said hastily as he took off his apron and dried his hands.

* _End Flashback*_

O08oo

' _Oh my god!_ ' Peridot thought as she groaned in the back seat of a Rolls Royce. The last thing she wanted is unnecessary attention and this car is the opposite of low key. _'Where did they even get this car? It wasn't in the driveway yesterday.'_ While she was sulking in the backseat, she did take a look at the interior of the vehicle, and to be honest, it was well made; smells nice too. Eventually her attention went to her phone, texting Jasper about school.

 _Peridot: What class you got 1st period?_

 _(Jasper) Jazzy: Geometry DX u?_

 _Peridot: English_

 _Jazzy: Which teacher?_

 _Peridot: idk i forgot_

 _Jazzy: ._. Useless as always_

 _Peridot: hey! I had a lot on my mind that day_

 _Jazzy: oh? What was it?_

 _Peridot: I saw steven yesterday_

 _Jazzy: who?_

 _Peridot: he's a friend from when i used to live here_

 _Jazzy: So it's a boy :3_

 _Peridot: ?_

 _Jazzy: Forget it ;)_

Moments later, she hears familiar instruments playing from the speaker. It caused her to look up from her phone and stare at Tahitan in surprise.

"You like this song? I heard you singing it when you were coming down the stairs." Peridot's face turned beet red.

"Oh, you heard that?" Tahitan chuckled. Peridot gingerly rubbed her arm, still embarrassed about the situation. "Is it strange? To like music like that?" Tahitan eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

"Why do you say that?" Tahitan said. Peridot look at the back of his head with a scowl.

"Uh… I'm the daughter of Ella Dia." she said.

"I'm aware. Your point?" Peridot sat silent, not sure on how to respond to that question. Tahitan sighed. "Look, you can listen to whatever you want to. Don't let me or anybody else tell you otherwise." Her mother always taught her proper etiquette so she looks presentable to her elders. It's been like that all her life, but this butler says that it's okay to be informal? Well she can't say that she's super surprised, although it still warranted a reaction. He's alright, for the time being.

She looks out the window to see a familiar traffic light coming up. _'Oh no'_ Eyes were following the car, wondering who's inside. It dawned her that the car getting close to a stop and now her heart is knocking on her chest.

"We're here miss." He said.

"Yeah." She replied. And as if on cue, Tahitan got out the car and trekked over to her side. Peridot followed his figure through the window wide eyed.

"No no no no no no no no." she whispered. She took the deepest breaths she ever took and waited for her butler to open the door. "Zala calme" she said. Her demeanor changed as the door opened; stepping out and thanking Tahitan, she made her way to campus. All eyes are on her every direction she looked, but still she walked. She felt confident, determined, sure. All of that dwindled when someone actually walked up to her, trying to get her attention.

"Hey sweetie!" a boy said. He had short, curly, blonde hair and and a very welcoming smile. She shrunk.

"Hi…" she said. She walking a little faster in the building and the strange boy is keeping up with her.

"Some entrance back there! Everyone is talking about how did a rich girl like you end up here. But I was the only one that had the balls to actually talk to you." Peridot chuckled nervously. "Oh my bad! I'm Mark, and you are?"

"P-Peridot."

"Peridot… I see you don't talk much eh? That's alright. Hey! You want to meet my friends?"

"Uh- I don- don't know if I-"

"Aww come on… they won't bite, I promise."

"But-"

"Hey!" a familiar voice came from behind them. They both turned to see Jazzy walking up to them.

"Mark, can you go bother someone else? I don't think she's interested in humoring you this early in the morning."

"Listen beef jerky, I saw her first so go deadlift a table or something." Jasper got irritated by that comment.

"You said what now?" Jasper said, cracking her fingers. She stepped in between them, grabbing his head and aggressively, and moved him out the way. He stumbled and hit the floor earning some laughs from onlookers. Embarrassed, he got up and yelled at Jasper who was walking away with Peridot.

"WELL I'M GLAD I'M NOT A PROTEIN LOVING, ZEBRA LOOKING FREAK LIKE YOU!" The students who heard this, vocalized their shock and some of them were actually trying to instigate, yet Jasper paid no mind and just kept walking where they can sit and away from the scene. Jasper has her head resting on her hand, being quiet; Peridot became worried.

"Jazzy, Are you okay?" Peridot asked. Jasper turned to her and gave her an indifferent look.

"Hm? Oh you're talking about what happened earlier? Stuff like that happens on a regular."

"That doesn't make it okay!" The gamer protested. Jasper merely shrugged.

"I'm used to it. No biggie." Even if she said that, she can't help but feel bad for her. Jasper suddenly stretched and yawned following with a few lip smacks to verify that she is indeed still tired.

Peridot doesn't know what happened the time when she wasn't here, but she can't just sit idly by and let her get treated like this. She's one of her close friends; even back then, Jasper used to stick up for her. Maybe it's in her nature to protect people, or just maybe protective of her.

She hears snaps and sees Jasper's hand waving in front of Peridot's face.

"Hey, you good?"

"Yeah… Jazzy, what are you doing this weekend?" Jasper looks up in thought.

"Probably going to help my mom with cleaning the garage, that place is long overdue of a good clean. And she's is going to hire a few people to clean too. Other than that, I don't think I have anything planned."

"Oh, cool… because I was wondering if we can do that sleepover thing on Friday?"

"Yeah! For sure!" Moments later, the bell for first period rang. "I'll text you okay?

"Alright!" Peridot said as she heads for English.

O08oo

"Meh… Honestly, I'm not that excited for Monster Trucks. I don't know, something about the name doesn't sound appealing." Peridot explained.

"I'm with blondie on this one. It's bad enough that you have these weird octo-slug looking things driving your car, the name is so generic too." Amethyst added.

"Blondie?"

"It's probably fake too."

"Excuse me?!" Peridot feeling this unexplained hostility from this girl she just met, almost made her regret sitting here.

"So yeah, ain't nothin' special about that movie." Amethyst dismissed her completely and Peridot is starting to become irritated. Though she did find time to eat between being mad and listening to Steven.

"Aww come on guys. Just give it a chance, it might actually be good." Steven said. Peridot was about halfway done with her turkey sandwich, but looked at Steven quizzically. Peridot sighed.

"Honestly Steven, I get your optimism but still. It looks like another run-of-the-mill movie about misunderstood creatures and how mankind are evil towards nature. Nothing we haven't seen before. Question is, are you still going to watch it?"

Steven rested his head on his hand, pressed his lips together, and started to drum his fingers on the table with a scowl. Both girls were waiting for Steven's answer.

The longer Peridot looked, the more focused she got on his face, picking apart everything that changed about him. The way his cheeks get when he's frustrated, the way his eyes look like two pools of chocolate, and his jawline is more defined. For Peridot, this is the time when she really got a good look at Steven. He got tall, well, taller than her at least. He's a pretty large guy too. She knows that he's seventeen, maybe it's one of those growth spurt things. Her focus is moving to his eyes again, just to see those chocolate pools staring right back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh?" she said.

"I said, you're right. I shouldn't waste my time on a movie that would most likely have a bland plotline." Steven said.

"That's my boy"

"Yeah whatever." he said in a dismissive tone. Peridot's eyes grew wide and her hands was shaking a little. She turned to Amethyst but all she did was shrug. Peridot frowned.

"Hey." she started. "I'm sorry for being a buzzkill, if you really wanted to watch the movie, you can. You don't have to listen to me." Steven turned to look at her once more..

"Huh? Oh… I'm not mad or anything." Peridot blinked.

"... You're not?" Steven smiled.

"Haha nope. I was thinking about what you said and I get what you're saying."

"Ohh… Oops" she said with a red face. All Steven did was laugh and Peridot rolled her eyes. Amethyst then noticed that there were low voices and eyes focused on their table. She raised an eyebrow. "What's their deal?"

"Huh?" Steven turned around to see multiple people look at them. It's at this part where Peridot's heart started to increase in speed, not entirely used to being the center of attention. But honestly, can they be anymore obvious? She looked down at her juice can and dragged it a little to see the water that was made by the condensation of her drink. She spoke up.

"I'm sorry guys, I think I'm the reason why they're staring." she said. Steven turned his head, even more confused.

"Wait, why?" he asked. She gave a nervous chuckle.

"Well my butler kind of drove me to school in a Rolls Royce and a guy named Mark started talking to me and Jazzy embarrassed him and and-"

"Butler?" Steven asked.

"Rolls Royce?" Amethyst added "Hold on a minute… ARE YOU GUYS DONE?! JEEZ IT'S LIKE YOU GUYS FORGOT THAT STARING IS RUDE, SO MOVE ALONG. NOTHING TO SEE HERE!" she yelled. One after another, everyone went on about their business leaving a more calm Peridot.

"Okay blondie, let's backtrack… you came to school in a expensive car with a butler…"

"Yeah… but it's not like I wanted to. He insisted on driving me here!"

"Your mom sure knows how to keep it discreet" Steven interrupted. Peridot looks at him with relief ' _Finally! Someone who gets it!_ '

"Tell me about it! It's like she doesn't know what 'low key' is." she said. Both laughed while Amethyst spectates them, not getting the full picture of what's going on. It was at this point where she's not interested in whatever Steven's old friend have to say and just killed time on her phone.

When the bell indicating lunch ended rang, all three got up to bid their goodbyes.

"I'll see you later Amy" Steven said.

"'Kay Steven, peace."

"Bye Amethyst." Peridot said. Amethyst looked at her for a moment, giving her the ol' quick read and just walked away, leaving an offended Peridot and a confused Steven. Peridot looked down in defeat.

"Oh… okay." she uttered. Seeing this, Steven placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up. I don't know why she's acting like that either. I'll talk to her when I see her okay?"

"Yeah." She responded.

"It's going to be fine. Trust me." Peridot smiled. She missed him so much.

O08oo

For Peridot, she's heading to World History. She's starting to get the hang of the twists and turns of the school and actually didn't get lost this time! She steps in and was greeted by a nearly empty classroom, courtesy of classmates loitering out in the hallways. After making her way to her desk, she greeted her teacher and complimented the blouse she's wearing. She finally made it to her seat near the window, with a sigh, she pulls out her phone and started browsing. It then came to her that she didn't ask for Steven's phone number. She wonders how weird it would sound to ask for his number. Well he is her best friend so it's normal to ask to keep in contact with each other. Maybe she'll ask tomorrow.

"Yo Dorito" Jasper called. Getting closer to the gamer, she extended a fist in front of her earning a smirk from Peridot who connected with a fist of her own. Sitting down, she brought out an apple and started eating.

"Didn't have lunch yet?" Peridot asked. She shook her head.

"Nah I just took this from the lunch ladies, they were really nice about it too." she said as she continued to eat. Peridot is guessing that she just stole the apple and used her size to be intimidating, or she must've been close with one of them.

For some reason, Peridot is kind of questioning how her friend is eating the apple, her question was answered when she eats the rest of the apple, leaving only the stem.

"What the- are you a freaking horse?"

"What? You don't don't eat the apple whole?" Jasper asked. Peridot cringed.

"No!" Jasper laughed, clearly seeing the confusion on the gamer's face.

"You're missing out."

"I'd rather step on a lego than eating a whole apple."

"Then" she corrected.

"I can't stand you." Peridot announced.


End file.
